Category Archives: Chemistry 11

Core Competency Self-Assessment

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Communication

Pink elixir, produced as a byproduct of performing a successful titration. Allegations that I have tasted the mixture in question and compared the taste to strawberry have been proved false by a jury of my peers. Complaints should be directed to our lord and saviour Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

This artifact [which has thankfully avoided capture by the British Museum] is a light pink solution of phenolphthalein, salt water and excess NaOH. This is an excellent example of Communication given that the solution would be very sensitive to any added NaOH around this point, meaning that extra care and teamwork was exercised to ensure that it didn’t turn bright pink, as what happened with the first trial. Here’s a transcription of that incident [hereafter referred to as The Day the Earth Stood Still], where Lukas comically overshot:

KUBA: Lukas! Lukas, calm down Lukas!!! Slow down!!
LUKAS: huh?

This time, we learned from our mistakes. Compared to The Day the Earth Stood Still, we did not go full throttle with the NaOH and took the time to coordinate the stirring, flow rate and half-drops.